Czech politics

My colleagues (so far as I can tell) largely found the current President of the Czech Republic too repulsive to vote for him.

I, on the other hand, found the notion that someone is a wealthy aristocrat an equally enormous turn-off.  I think of George Bush, the younger, as a child, going to school in a chauffeur-driven limousine.
And I think of the VAT tax I pay----for food, books, and coffee.  That's a regressive tax that hurts working people more than the wealthy.  And I imagine a man who has, all of his life, been surrounded by helpers, servants.......A person like that is no democrat......and could never identify with or represent working people. (And, what's more, I don't want someone to merely represent me.)

Anyway, my colleagues find Zeman repulsive in somewhat the same way educated people used to react in horror to George Bush, the younger (or, indeed, Ronald Reagan).

So, now, the President of the USA is less obnoxious than Bush.  However, very little has been accomplished.  Wars still rage, and the war against working people (called "austerity" or "fiscal responsiblity") continues.

(For a more sympathetic view of Obama, see Robert Paul Wolff's Blog.)